FTC reaffirms to finish reviews of planned mega deals

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has reaffirmed that it will complete its reviews of two pending mega deals ― Korean Air's takeover of Asiana Airlines and Hyundai Heavy Industries' (HHI) acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) ― by the end of this year. The commitment, made by FTC Chairperson Joh Sung-wook during a media briefing, Wednesday, is seen as a bid to highlight its central role and urge antitrust regulators of the involved countries to act correspondingly to finalize the two deals that have been delayed longer than expected. The FTC's approval in these two pending deals is a prerequisite for relevant ministries and state-run institutions here to proceed with mergers that are anticipated to reshape related industries in and outside of Korea. "We'll work cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines takeover so that we can have our review ready for approval by the end of the year," Cho said. She noted the FTC and the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding, Monday, for cooperation in the "speedy review of the deal and measures to prevent a possible monopoly that could be caused through the deal." The $1.6b takeover of financially-troubled Asiana Airlines by Korean Air will give birth to one of the world's 10 biggest airlines. The sensitive nature of the deal was behind the postponement of the antitrust review after Korean Air announced the takeover plan in November 2020. Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines is mandated to receive approval from a total of nine antitrust authorities around the world. Three have given the green light so far ― Turkey, Taiwan and Thailand ― while six others ― Korea, the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and Vietnam ― have not made decisions yet.<br/>